Northampton County officials this morning unveiled their new strategic plan -- including creating specialty courts and restoring vocational training -- to reduce recidivism rates at the county prison.

After more than a year of research, the county released its findings in Bethlehem at a Re-Entry Summit attended by prison officials, mental health providers and community leaders. The report calls for improving education opportunities, mental health and substance abuse treatment and access to job training and housing.

While the report sets goals on ways to improve the corrections system, it does not set priorities on what ought to be addressed and what can be afforded, said Laura Savenelli, the county's re-entry coordinator and author of the final report. The county's Criminal Justice Advisory Board, a collection of county, court and community officials, will begin identifying which goals to focus on in the near future, she said.

Some recently discussed options are singled out in the report. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli publicly endorsed the creation of a specialty mental health court earlier this month, which the report identifies as a way to reduce recidivism. At least a fifth of the inmates at Northampton County Prison are on psychotropic medication and the county could reduce the strain on the prison by prioritizing treatment for nonviolent offenders over incarceration, Morganelli said.

Filling prescriptions

But, Savenelli noted other challenges exist. When prisoners return to the community, they are given a limited amount of their prescribed medication. If inmates have no health insurance or cannot quickly schedule doctors' appointments, they may wind up back in situations that landed them in prison, she said.

"If a streamlined process were to be established for returning citizens to have insurance upon release, this would be a tremendous accomplishment with system-wide impact," the report states.

The report also suggests the creation of a specialty drug court. Like the proposed mental health court, the court would prioritize providing treatment to nonviolent offenders instead of incarceration. Northampton County President Judge Stephen Baratta said last week that 70 percent of the inmates in county prison have substance abuse issues.

Baratta said the bench is interested in pursuing both specialty courts and has invited members of the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts to speak to local officials about how to best create and maintain these options. County officials and prosecutors have been invited as well, Baratta said.

"If we can find out a way to do it, we're on board," Baratta said of the judges.

More than lifestyle

Putting inmates on track of a healthy lifestyle is only part of the formula to reducing recidivism, however. The report found inmates need more options for job training and education if they're to succeed in the community. While the county's GED program is in high demand, there is a lengthy waiting list due to limits on space, teachers and which prisoners can be in the same room during classes, Savenelli said.

The report suggests the county develop vocational training programs and create partnerships with existing businesses in the community. When inmates are released, they would have ties to employers on the outside and new skills to help market themselves, the report says. Computer training options should also be explored, the report says.

The county formerly ran an auto body garage at the prison as a vocational training tool, but it was shut down in 1995 and later converted into another cell block during an expansion of the prison.

The study offers less drastic changes that could provide better results. Improving communication between inmates, their families and service providers can prevent problems and set ground rules that keep defendants in the community, the report says.

The county has focused on lowering recidivism rates at the prison in recent years by hiring Community Education Centers to offer alcohol treatment and parenting classes at its new West Easton Treatment Center. While the recidivism rate for inmates who graduate the program is about 30 percent, a 2012 survey of male prisoners at Northampton County Prison found a recidivism rate of 58 percent.